Housing starts top 1 million

Associated Press

Associated Press

Published 5:35 pm, Tuesday, April 16, 2013

In this Friday, March 29, 2013, photo, a worker helps frame a new home under construction in Matthews, N.C. The Commerce Department reports the pace at which builders broke ground on homes in March, on Tuesday, April 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

In this Friday, March 29, 2013, photo, a worker helps frame a new...

In this Friday, March 29, 2013, photo, a worker helps frame a new home under construction in Matthews, N.C. U.S. builders started work on the most homes and apartments in nearly 5 years in March, signaling momentum in the housing recovery. The Commerce Department says builders broke ground on homes at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.04 million in March, up 7 percent from February. It was the fastest pace of home building since June 2008. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

U.S. homebuilders broke the 1 million mark in March for the first time since June 2008. The gain signals continued strength for the housing recovery at the start of the spring buying season.

The overall pace of homes started rose 7 percent from February to March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.04 million, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

Apartment construction, which tends to fluctuate sharply from month to month, led the surge: It jumped nearly 31 percent to an annual rate of 417,000, the fastest pace since January 2006.

By contrast, single-family home building, which makes up nearly two-thirds of the market, fell 4.8 percent to an annual rate of 619,000. That was down from February's pace of 650,000. The government said February's pace was a sharp 5.2 percent higher than it had previously estimated.

Applications for building permits, a gauge of future construction, declined 3.9 percent to an annual rate of 902,000. It was down from February's rate of 939,000, which was also nearly a five-year high.

Scott Laurie, president of Olson Homes, said that last month's falloff in single-family starts is not representative of what's happening in the market.

"You'll see starts will continue to increase as the year goes on and new projects start to open up," Laurie said.